


Birds and flowers

by lovestillaround



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: M/M, and just a bit of uncertainty, it includes a lot of nature
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-29
Updated: 2018-03-29
Packaged: 2019-04-14 16:13:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 917
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14139705
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lovestillaround/pseuds/lovestillaround
Summary: Phil loves plants and Dan loves cut flowers





	Birds and flowers

He always sees these parrots when he is in the library. Why the hell did anyone think that having parrots in a place like this would be a good idea? Dan doesn’t know. The birds are usually locked in a cage and they are usually quite loud. They are also very pretty, with their yellow heads and very long tails. The rest of their bodies is green except for some deep brown markings on the wings. They look exotic, the colour of their feathers seems too bright for England, too intensive. There’s a strong contrast between them and the bookshelves, between them and the pale walls, between them and the busy, grey street that you can see outside the window. They just don’t match.

Dan always comes up to them and if he’s in a good mood, he greets them with a quiet _hello._ It’s a pair of birds and sometimes Dan wonders what’s their gender.

Often he stands in front of the birdcage and observes them, these lively, tiny creatures. There’s something mesmerizing about them, as if they were a part of a different world. They seem like a symbol of a life that Dan never had, a primitive life somewhere in a tropical forest.

Then he always starts to think about all these things that he’s never seen and all these parts of the world he’s never been to. It makes him want to go on an expedition somewhere, anywhere, just leave this rainy country that he knows already and that seems so boring and ordinary in moments like these. He usually turns around at this point and starts looking for books. Silly thoughts, these silly thoughts always appear in his head.

He hears tweeting of the parrots as he looks over the shelves. It doesn’t match the layer of dust on the books and on his fingers. He likes being here though, maybe because this place matches his constant internal conflict. Dan often feels a bit out of place and he wonders if these parrots feel the same.

He comes up to them to say goodbye before he leaves.

 

 

When Dan was younger, he used to know the names of many flowers and trees. When he got older, he forgot almost all of them. He thinks that’s a shame. 

It’s also a shame that he and Phil don’t have much contact with nature because it is beautiful and it makes them calm. Dan likes to imagine that they’ll grow old like this, that they will be walking through some fields holding hands, with wrinkles on their faces and hopefully smiles as well.

He rarely thinks about getting old without fear but this time it doesn’t feel that bad. Maybe it’s different because they are visiting Phil’s parents right now who seem to be happy with their lives. This time Dan doesn’t want to get far away, leave this country, go on an adventure. This time he wants to settle down and have a peaceful life.

Also today he wants to pick some flowers for Phil. They are walking along a field road on this rather chilly summer evening, without talking much. Unfortunately there are only yellow wildflowers around here, too tiny to form a bouquet out of them. Dan deviates from the path and picks one single flower.

Phil stops to watch him. His smile gets bigger when Dan comes up to him but even that isn’t powerful enough to fully erase the fear of rejection from Dan’s mind. It is silly, it is so silly and it isn’t anything big really, just this small voice in his head that tells him it isn’t good enough. Phil deserves something big, he always deserves the greatest things and Dan sometimes gets scared that he can’t give them to him.

Maybe the look on Phil’s face is just too peaceful for Dan to stress out over one stupid little thing right now and he just tucks the flower behind Phil’s ear without any commentary.

“Am I pretty now?”

Phil’s voice sounds like honey, with an echo of sweet, sweet laughter.

“Yes.”

They look at each other briefly and then continue to walk. And everything is calm until a middle-aged couple comes from the opposite direction. A part of Dan expects Phil to take off the flower. Some part of him expects Phil to tense up because Phil doesn’t like to feel exposed in any kind of way. It all doesn’t happen, the couple passes them by and when they are far away, Phil takes Dan’s hand.

 

 

“Are you hungry, boys?”

Kathryn greets them with a question as they are taking off their shoes in the hall.

“We can manage ourselves, mom,” Phil answers, still with laughter in his voice. He leans in to place a kiss on the top of her head and Dan swears to god that he can feel it too, physically, in his chest.

“Did you have a good walk?” Kathryn asks as they are all in the kitchen and Dan listens to this casual conversation between her and her son, quite unable to take his eyes off the flower still placed above Phil’s ear.

Dan doesn’t like houseplants as much as Phil does. He prefers cut flowers because they die pretty quickly. You don’t have your whole life to admire them, only this short moment, a couple of days or hours maybe and then they are gone. It’s easier for him to appreciate the beauty if he knows that it isn’t eternal.

**Author's Note:**

> Fun fact: a library in my hometown actually had parrots a couple of years ago, when I was a kid
> 
>  [my tumblr](https://lovestillaround.tumblr.com/)


End file.
